03.15.2007 PS3 CANCER FIGHTING SERVICE UPDATE

What, you didn't know the PS3 was made to fight cancer? It was announced last year that Sony would work together on this project with Stanford University, and in October it started with just PCs. The idea is that when you're not using your PS3 or PC, scientists can use your inactive gaming stations to do complex protein folding calculations and, hopefully, find a cure for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cystic fibrosis, or various cancers. The computing simulations would normally require 30 years for a single PC to accomplish, but with thousands of connected computers sharing the load, progress should move much quicker - so far over a million PCs have gotten involved with Stanford's Folding@home program in just half a year.

The Cell processor is roughly ten times faster than a standard gaming PC, making it the perfect dust collecting medical machine. The future of Earth's diseases now rests in Sony's Sixaxis hands, we're counting on you to stay boring Sony. You can read the whole PDF here, and the service should start on March 23rd. I hope I'm "the one" whose PS3 cures AIDS, that'd be the best PlayStation 3 trophy ever. Thanks to reader Lawl for the tip!